The Wall Around the World (collection) by Theodore R. Cogswell

Like most readers, I have a large stack of books in my to-be-read pile. Some have sat there for an Continue reading →

Touchstone by Terry Carr

The ‘be careful what you wish for’ story has been a staple of folk tales long before such classics as Continue reading →

. . . By Good Intentions by Carrie Richerson

Here’s an intriguing stylistic trick: never naming something in a story, while making it perfectly clear what the something is Continue reading →

Ill Met in Tanivar by Reyna Todd

I should warn you that today’s story is a gay erotic novella, and there may be graphic analysis of a Continue reading →

The Malaysian Mer by Jane Yolen

Characters are tricky things to get right in short stories. It’s all well and good for novels, who can afford Continue reading →

Senator Bilbo by Andy Duncan

It’s a common parlor game (if parlor games still exist) in fannish circles to imagine what character X would do Continue reading →

Nicholas Was by Neil Gaiman

For once I have nothing to say about a story. It’s only a hundred words long, it’s on Neil Gaiman’s Continue reading →

The Gutter Sees the Light that Never Shines by Alistair Rennie

When it comes to putting labels on movements in fiction, the ‘New Weird’ has always been ill-defined, to the point Continue reading →